Bawaslu Wants Witnesses from Election Participants in Vote Recap

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) head Abhan suggested all participants of the 2019 presidential and legislative election assign witnesses in the location of vote recapitulation in the level of sub-district, district, city, and province.

“We think that’s better for the election participants to deploy witnesses, even though there are observers from Bawaslu staffers,” said Abhan during a press conference on Sunday, April 21.

According to him, the presence of witnesses during the vote recapitulation is truly necessary because if a witness files an objection, the issue can be resolved from the lowest level.

Read also: Bawaslu Clarifies Alleged Electoral Fraud on Vote Recapitulation

“They can immediately report to our staffers if they have objections or recommendations, such as correction or alleged electoral violation,” Abhan underlined, adding that his side would follow up the case based on its authority.

Abhan went on to say that the vote recapitulation was not easy as it required high accuracy in inputting the data and long hours.

The data recap officers, he added, worked overnight every day starting 08:00 until 00:00 local times. Therefore, the Central Java Bawaslu head called all parties to pray for the local polling station working committees (KPPS) to gain health and smooth in carrying out their duties.

“Let’s watch the vote recapitulation together until it finishes,” Abhan said.

IRSYAN HASYIM (CONTRIBUTOR)